Lithuania switching to summer time Sunday

The summer-time period will end in late October, when clocks will be adjusted one hour backward.

The time is changed in an effort to make better use of daylight, however, critics maintain that switching between times can harm health.

Lithuania, like all EU member countries, changes time twice a year, according to the EU‘s directive on summer-time arrangements. The validity of the directive is unlimited. Every five years, Brussels publishes a communique, specifying the precise schedule for introducing and recalling the daylight-saving time.

Lithuania considers turning to Brussels with a proposal to revise the directive, expecting to secure support from other countries.

Government Vice-Chancellor Deividas Matulionis says that the Foreign Ministry had conducted a survey of other countries, and five of them support the Lithuanian argumentation and would back the decision to approach the European Commission over the issue. Matulionis says Finland had also initiated discussions on a similar address to the EC and invited other EU nations to join in.

“The idea is to continue seeking discussions initiated by the European Commission on revision of the directive,” Matulionis told BNS.

In his words, efforts will be made to raise the issue on the level of the Council of Europe.

The position of the European Commission is that the summer and winter time should be coordinated on the European Union level, and the current rules allow saving energy.